Do prologues work or are they just authors marking time? I added a prologue to GWIII and brought it to my writer’s group for their perusal. Here’s what I heard: “lacks urgency.” “Needs to start earlier at a more crucial moment.” “Characters aren’t engaged.” And my favorite — “It’s a fat guy eating whilst looking [...]
Salon’s Laura Miller has an excellent article about what readers look for in a compelling novel. Published writers and aspiring writers can learn much from this column. I especially liked this bit: 3. The components of a novel that readers care about most are, in order: story, characters, theme, atmosphere/setting. Of course all these elements [...]
One day I should scan in the rough map I’ve drawn of Aeritan. I drew it in 2005 when I was seriously deep into actual revisions of Gordath Wood, and was having trouble keeping things straight. Up in the northwest corner of the map, there’s Balancing Rock and North Salem, NY. There’s the house that [...]
© Author Patrice Sarath. Writing lessons and the writing life.
